What is everyone's favorite pattern, both for hunting and overall "good looking"? I like the Mossy Oak Break Up or the RealTree Hardwods.

stevelyn

May 8, 2006, 07:57 AM

There's a couple of threads that already address this, but I'll play anyway.

I don't care about good looking, I'm concerned about function.

I've found that http://www.asatcamo.com is probably the best functioning available. Predator would come in a close second.

There are others that use a similar open pattern principle Praire Ghost, River Ghost, Natural Gear and others, but I have no direct experience with them.

For winter, I prefer the German military (NATO) winter camo. It's basically white with a few scattered splotches that resemble spruce or pine boughs. Nearly perfect for predator hunting on the ground.

johnbt

May 8, 2006, 08:15 AM

Shadow Grass

http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/coastline/images/line0665.jpg

Art Eatman

May 8, 2006, 10:32 AM

Not being a turkey hunter, old worn khakis work just fine. Or any dull earth-tone green or brown...

Peferred source: Goodwill.

:), Art

Pointer

May 8, 2006, 10:37 AM

Mossy Oak Break Up

Best for the mountain forests... :)

kingudaroad

May 8, 2006, 05:50 PM

I usually sneak up on em in blue jeans.

With a Mossy Oak ball cap of course.

Death from Afar

May 8, 2006, 06:33 PM

German Flecktarn Camo. Fantastic in the NZ bush.

Hello123

May 8, 2006, 07:55 PM

For duck hunting Max 4, others the old Mossy Oak treebottom pattern.

bclark1

May 8, 2006, 08:59 PM

yea, i'm boring, popular-pattern junkie.
probably have more MO break-up than anything but i think it's a bit dark for a lot of situations. worked well turkey hunting this year, as everything grew in pretty nice and it was overcast for a lot of it... but i think RT hardwoods is probably a little more versatile, especially for fall seasons. then again, i don't think most animals are as critical as we are, and i've had both work for me with both deer and turkey. good ol' milsurp is fine as well.

22-rimfire

May 8, 2006, 09:17 PM

I use the Mossy Oak Hardwoods a fair amount. Last year I bought some stuff made by Natural Gear that is a grey/green background with brown and black splotches that I picked up at Bass Pro. Like it for late fall deer hunting.

I don't really have a favorite one. I go with the one that blends into that particular terrain that I'm hunting in at the time the best. I don't know if this is true or not, but I've always heard not to mix match camo patterns.

beenthere

May 9, 2006, 11:22 PM

Mine is a pair of brown cord pants and a Bright orange sweatshirt with an oversize army woodland camo t-shirt over it. Bright orange sleeves satisfies the game warden (Hat too).

Scorch

May 10, 2006, 12:40 PM

Way back in the 1970s, there was Rock-o-flage (I believe that was the spelling), used a mottled grey, greenish, brownish background with fine darker web pattern to it. In the 1990s they changed the name to Outback camo, if I remember right. It was one of the most effective printed camos I have ever seen. You could hide in plain sight, without die-cut leaf patterns or printed leaves and branches. The only problem I ever came up against was that as it wore and faded due to use, it got too light and shiny to be effective.
Predator is very good, but needs more webbing in it to be more effective.
Natural Gear camo works OK, but everyone seems caught up on printed leaves and patterns. Better to have loops that will accept real leaves and add depth.
Mossy Oak Breakup is too dark, you can spot someone wearing it from a mile away.
Advantage is OK, but just OK. Good background color and patterning, but as it wears, it get too light and shiny.
Shadow Grass is dark, as is Advantage Wetlands.

If you want to know what camo looks like to an animal, try a few black and white photos of people wearing it in the local vegetation. It can be very revealing! Take the pictures from close up, middle distance, and long distance.

In the USMC, we learned that people wearing regular cammies stand out as colored blobs against ANY background unless they are laying in the dirt. Movement is your enemy.

Arizona Fusilier

May 11, 2006, 01:24 PM

For turkey hunting, Realtree Hardwoods seems to look best in the Arizona pine.

For the desert, Desert Tigerstripe from Tigerstripe products looks good in the low desert; in higher desert, and a great all-round camo for Arizona, the old Rhodesian Army pattern is a fabulous compromise.

I did recently spring for some purpose-made desert hunting camo, "Brush Country", which is a very complex looking virtual image camo (like Mossy Oak, Realtree, Advantage, etc). Its dead on for a lot of our more overgrown prickly pear/cholla/ocotillo desert landscape.

For the forest and foothills I prefer Carhart green jacket and Carhart grey pants. Antelope on the open prairie are sharp eyed creatures. US miliary woodland camo works well.
Jack

FirstFreedom

May 23, 2006, 09:58 AM

Whiskey definitely has the best camo - you should market that - sell it to realtree as their new "BlueSky" pattern - then they can charge $45 for a t-shirt like that.

Fremmer

May 23, 2006, 11:11 AM

Realtree Hardwoods works fine in Nebraska. The best thing about it is that it doesn't matter if I get it dirty or rip it, and it is water-resistant. :cool:

whiskey

May 23, 2006, 07:43 PM

Some company sells sky blue camo for fishermen. One of the dumbest thing I have ever seen. I do think that a light blue shirt would work well in a tall treestand with a open canopy. Sure makes more sense then a big dark brown blob sitting up in a tree.

I just happend to have on the blue shirt when I walked out to the stand. I rarely bother with camo while sitting in stands. I do like ASAT better than anything else in camo. Natural Gear works well too.

pumpkinheaver

May 23, 2006, 10:28 PM

Mossy oak break up.

sparkysteve

May 25, 2006, 07:02 PM

I like Mossy Oak Break-Up

I have a little bit of Advantage Timber.

UniversalFrost

May 27, 2006, 10:48 AM

+1 mossy oak break up for brushy areas

advantage wetlands for the marshes/duck hunting

old tiger stripe bdu's for yote hunting anywhere

seclusion 3D for turkey

Fremmer

May 27, 2006, 11:57 AM

That Seclusion camo is pretty neat.

UniversalFrost

May 28, 2006, 01:22 AM

yeah and the seclusion is expensive. Bought a browning fleece 2 piece set for bow hunting and the seclusion pattern was almost 50 bucks more than the other patterns. Don't know why. But I was sitting at ground level last year along a trail bowhunting and a white tail doe and buck actually walked past me (about 5 feet) and didn't see a thing I could have reached over and whacked them on the rump. I got the buck that passed by me and was a nice 10 yard shot. Good stuff that works for those places that it matches and you don't want to be seen.